1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a television receiver. More particularly, it relates to a television receiver in which a slave picture, a small picture of a channel other than a channel currently received by the receiver, is displayed in superimposition on a master picture, a large picture displaying the channel currently received by the receiver, so that the viewer may retrieve and select a desired reception channel as he views an image displayed as the slave picture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a television receiver in which a small picture may be displayed simultaneously on a larger picture (picture-in-picture), is becoming popular. With such system of the television receiver, it is possible for the viewer to display the small picture or the slave picture of a desired channel as he views the large picture or the master picture and to change over the channel of the slave picture to find the channel broad casting a program which is most interesting to him. Once the interesting program is found, the viewer may change over the slave picture to the master picture to view the program of the selected channel as the master picture.
meanwhile, the following two methods have been heretofore used for sequentially changing over the channels of the slave pictures. With the first method, the channels of the slave pictures may be sequentially switched by operating a predetermined key. With the second method, the channels are automatically changed over by operating a predetermined key once and the channel changing over operation is discontinued on reversion to the original channel, that is the channel at which channel changing over is initiated.
With the first method, it is necessary to press the predetermined key continuously until the desired channel is found.
With the second method, the channel selecting operation cannot be stopped at a desired position, such that the user is obliged to memorize or note down the channel broad casting an interesting program to select the channel after the end of the changing over operation.